Joliet stadium turf project stalled again by wet ground

JOLIET – The installation of field turf at Joliet Route 66 Stadium has been pushed back again, making it more likely that some college and high school games planned for the field will be played elsewhere.

Work crews now are looking at installation by March 17 at the earliest, and maybe later.

Delays of the original March 5 estimated start date have been for the same reason most baseball activity has been postponed – the weather. A stone base laid in the fall was too wet for the turf when contractors for the job met at the stadium Wednesday, Joliet Public Works Director James Trizna said.

The University of St. Francis and organizers of the WJOL Don Ladas Memorial Tournament have made arrangements to play elsewhere if necessary because of the uncertainty of when the turf could be installed.

[Eric Ginnard - eginnard@shawmedia.com]

USF, which normally plays home games at Joliet Route 66 Stadium, already had relocated its March 17 home opener to Joliet Junior College. The second home game, March 30, still is scheduled for Joliet Route 66 Stadium.

That game, too, might be moved, since turf installation is expected to take 10 days with good weather. The Joliet Slammers’ first game at the stadium is not until May 15.

Adjusting spring baseball to the weather in northern Illinois is not unusual, said Dave Laketa, athletic director at USF.

“It really is part of the time of the year that we play,” Laketa said of the turf project’s effect on USF baseball. “You hope for the best. It’s a short-term delay for a long-term benefit.”

Laketa said USF looks forward to the new artificial turf because it will provide a more reliable surface for a college team that plays in late winter and early spring.

The USF home opener actually is the baseball’s team 27th scheduled game of the season, which started
Feb. 9 and mostly has been played on road trips to schools in southern states.

The team’s only games in a northern state so far have been played on a field with artificial turf in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Some games scheduled for a Marion stadium with a grass field were moved to Cedar Rapids because the field was too wet for baseball, Laketa said.

“If you walk on grass now, it’s like walking on a sponge,” Laketa said last week.

[Eric Ginnard - eginnard@shawmedia.com]

Dry weather the rest of this week should help. Dry weather and at least partly sunny days are expected through Sunday, according to the National Weather Service’s five-day forecast.

Organizers of the WJOL Don Ladas Memorial Tournament expect to play the final round March 31 at Lockport East High School unless the stadium turf is ready, said Steve Locke, athletic director at Joliet Central High School.

“It really is no problem,” Locke said, noting that only the last two games of the tournament typically are played at the Joliet stadium. “Every coach has been very flexible. They understand the Slammers’ situation.”

The Joliet Slammers manage Joliet Route 66 Stadium, which is owned by the city of Joliet.

Slammers general manager Heather Mills said she has had to turn away high school teams that typically like to play some of their games at the stadium. The good news, however, is that there has been more interest in playing games at the stadium because of news that artificial turf is being installed.

Mills said the sturdier artificial turf should allow more games in coming years in the wet spring weeks before the Slammers’ home opener.

“We’ve always had a number of teams that were interested in playing here,” she said. “But with grass, we had to limit it, especially at this time of the year.”